Most whisky is bottled much, much younger than this. Partly because of the sheer difficulty and skill required to age any spirit for this length of time, and the relative cost-efficiency of bottling spirits much younger. And, partly because of phenomena like the Angel’s Share, which is the evaporated spirit which escapes from porous oak during the ageing process. In fact, the Angel’s Share can account for a loss of around 2-5% every year! Whatever is left after 40 years is stunningly rare.